Should Aaron Donald Expect an Extension From Los Angeles Rams Soon?
By Dan Parzych
Aaron Donald will enter the fourth season of his rookie deal with the Los Angeles Rams in 2017.
Despite all of the obvious struggles surrounding the Los Angeles Rams, the one player they have always been able to rely on is defensive tackle Aaron Donald. In three seasons, Donald has already made a name for himself as one of the league’s top defensive players, and hopefully the Rams won’t hesitate to locking their superstar up to a new deal sooner rather than later.
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The good news for Los Angeles fans is team General Manager Les Snead already discussed the topic at the NFL combine on Thursday, which is obviously a no brainer for the organization. When looking at the impact made by Donald on defense during his first three seasons in the league, there’s no debate the Rams need to do whatever it takes to make sure he’s around for the long run, no matter how expensive it might be.
Of course, it will be interesting to see how the negotiation process goes since Donald could be fighting to become the league’s top defensive, meaning Snead and the organization can’t take the cheap approach with this situation. His numbers may have been down in 2016 with only eight sacks, but keep in mind he led the league with 31 quarterback hits, and was receiving extra coverage from opponents.
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In other words, these numbers when considering the factors made Donald look even more impressive than he already was, and it’s easy to see why he was named Defensive Player of the Year by Pro Football Focus. For the sake of a team that was a complete disappointment during their first year back in Los Angeles, here’s to hoping the Rams do the right thing in this situation by working out a hefty extension for Donald to make the former first-round pick happy.